Kendrick Perkins Was Historically Terrible This Postseason

Well, Kendrick Perkins, you have successfully solidified your name in the NBA record books.

Unfortunately, this news is not exactly positive. In fact, it is terrible and, quite frankly, embarrassing.

With the Oklahoma City Thunder losing to the Memphis Grizzlies in game 5, the OKC center has finished the postseason with the worst PER ever recorded in the playoffs for a player logging at least 200 minutes.

His final PER (Player Efficiency Rating for those who are unaware): -0.7. Yes, the negative sign does belong in front of that number.

Perkins played in all 11 postseason games the Thunder competed in, averaging about 19 minutes a contest. Throughout the entirety of OKC's playoff run, he produced only 24 points on 27% shooting, accumulated 24 turnovers, and recorded only 5 blocks. He also committed 39 fouls and ended with a plus/minus of -40.

Like I said: embarrassing.

It really is no wonder why the Thunder lost 4 games in a row after winning game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinal matchup against Memphis. Sure, all-star point guard Russell Westbrook was unavailable due to a torn meniscus, but the inability of the role players to step up in his absence and help out Kevin Durant is what truly cost OKC this series. Obviously, Perkins is not the only player at fault here, as Durant's entire supporting cast proved to be inconsistent. Even Durant himself struggled in the final two games of this matchup. However, the fact OKC's starting center performed so horrendously against a squad who is led offensively and defensively by their bigs played a significant role in the Thunder's disappointing exit. Oklahoma City needed Perkins to step his game up against the Grizzlies' strong inside presence, and his ineffectiveness on both sides of the ball turned out to be a huge letdown as the Grizz were able to thrive off of his struggles.

I feel sorry for Perkins. He was the first player to even record a playoff PER lower than 1.0, let alone the fact he ended with a negative rating. Unfortunately for the big man, it is likely this record is here to stay.